This is the fourth of a series of short stories I am writing this December.
Click here to read the explanation of why I’m writing them.
I opened my eyes and looked down at my legs. They were covered by a light blanket, but I could see my feet poking up under the end of it. My eyes were foggy, eyelids heavy; I must have been asleep for a while. Moving my head seemed impossible — as if different parts of my body were waking one after the other — so I settled for turning only my eyes.
The room was fairly empty, a small chair was in the corner. No one was sat in it but if there was anything on it, I couldn’t see, the blanket over my feet was just in the way. There didn’t seem to be anything to my left beyond a window with the blinds drawn, but to my right I could see a faint outline of a door.
I could hear a sound. A slow beeping washed over me as my ears tuned to consciousness.
I tried to move my neck again, but as I did, a pressure built in the side of my face. My face was pressing into something, my head was held in place. Changing tactics, my focus came upon moving my hand up to my face, so it could free my neck. The hand moved but was quickly halted; it was restrained somehow.
The beeping quickened slightly. God, I wish someone would turn that off.
The other arm was restrained too, so were my legs. Oh, God!
The beeping hastened it’s incessant, annoying, chime. This time it was followed by a louder alarm.
Voices grew louder to my right; someone must be on the other side of the door. I tried shouting for help but all that would come out was a muffled cry; my mouth would not open and as hard as I tried I could not get my jaw to open.
I must have been kidnapped. No other explanation jumped out to me that meant I would be restrained like this, all four limbs bound and jaw sealed shut. That’s why I felt groggy, I had been drugged while I was brought here.
The sound of a latch unlocking and a door squeaking made my heart race. I couldn’t turn my head to see who was there.
The beeping raced.
From my right, a tall figure came into my field of view, closely followed by a shorter second one. The taller of the two was dressed in a white knee-length coat, below which I could see dark trousers. It turned, and my eyes crossed over its blue buttoned shirt, a white badge pinned to it, to its featureless flat face. It was about the correct size for a person’s head, but instead of eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, there was smooth unending flesh.
I began to thrash against my bindings, and the beeping drove ever faster.
The second figure turned, and its face was as smooth as the first.
“He is not improving” it spoke without lips, “We must sedate him again.”
“Agreed” the first responded.
As each of them ‘spoke’ I could see their faces writhing; it looked as if hundreds of snakes were trying to break out from under the skin.
“Get away from me” I tried to scream, but my mouth would still not move.
I pulled against bindings I could not see as hard as I could, but they did not relent.
The beeping was chiming so fast now that it was almost a single, excruciating tone.
The shorter one pulled something pointed from its jacket and started toward me, the skin on its hand squirming as well.
“I’m powerless” I thought to myself as the needle came towards me, “there is nothing I can do.”
I felt a sharp sting in my arm and began to feel drowsy; as the seconds passed, I could not pull my eyes away from the faces of my captors.
My eyes became heavy, the writhing faces became blurry, and the world around me went black.
I opened my eyes and looked down at my legs. They were covered by a light blanket…
